With the rising temperatures comes a spike in crime across the capital city. In a series we’re calling Hot City: Crime in Providence we’re taking a look at summer crime by focusing the month of July. Last year the area encompassing Smith Hill, Elmhurst and the North End saw the highest number of crimes. Rhode Island Public Radio’s Catherine Welch visits a street in that area where a dozen crimes happened in one month.

The long-sought trial of James "Whitey" Bulger in US District Court in Boston offers a great example of how Twitter can carry the drama of legal action to a far bigger audience. Tweets from a bevy of top crime reporters, including WPRI-TV's Tim White, have offered a minute-by-minute account of the scene as the former fugitive mobster faces justice.

The head of the troubled Institute for International Sport was arraigned on 18 counts in Superior Court Friday.

Dan Doyle, of Connecticut, was charged after an investigation that began in February 2012. The probe followed media reports that the Institute for International Sport housed at URI was unable to fully account for state funding it had received.

Doyle faces seven counts of embezzlement, five counts each of forgery and filing a false document, and one count of obtaining money under false pretenses.

US Attorney Peter Neronha says the sentencing this week of former Central Falls mayor Charles Moreau is a stark reminder of a blinkered view of public service held by a string of corrupt Rhode Island politicians.

Law enforcement officials have tried without success for years to make Rhode Island’s gun laws more stringent. They say tougher laws would help to deter gun-related violence. Now, in the aftermath of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the question remains whether Rhode Island will beef up its gun laws. For starters, gun control supporters will have to overcome powerful opposition from the National Rifle Association.

State Senator Harold Metts joins us for our Bonus Q+A segment to talk about education policy, disproportionately high unemployment for minorities, and what it's like to be racially profiled while serving in the General Assembly.

State Senator Harold Metts (D-Providence) says the stigma of prison is so severe for former inmates that it's virtually impossible for them to find work after serving their time. He calls that a contributor to the disproportionately high rate of unemployment for minorities in poor parts of the capital city.

“The rate of incarceration is a big factor in the unemployment in certain parts of my district, because once you get that jail record, it ends up being a lifetime sentence, because you can’t get a job.”